Downton downsized... by two hours because American TV executives
fear its intricate plot will baffle U.S. viewers

Its intricately detailed plot and sumptuous
production values, with lingering shots of the magnificent stately home, made
Downton Abbey the TV hit of last year.

Unsurprisingly, the lavish period drama has now
been snapped up by an American network - although it seems the beautifully nuanced portrait of
pre-First World War upper-class life could prove just a little too complex for the trans­atlantic audience.

For in the land of the notoriously short
attention span, TV executives have taken a knife to the artfully crafted
series, slashing its running time and simplifying the plotline for fear viewers
will be left baffled.

Sumptuous series: Jessica Brown Findlay (left), Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael in Downton Abbey. TV executives in the U.S. have slashed its running time and simplified the plotline for fear viewers will be left baffled

Rebecca Eaton, an executive producer for the PBS
network - which will be airing it from next week - admits that American audiences
demand a 'different speed' to their shows.

As a result, Downton, which ran for
eight hours on ITV, has been slashed to six for the States, while the story­line
about the inheritance of the Abbey has been downplayed.

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The show's ten million British viewers will be
well aware that much of the drama revolves around challenges to the 'entail' -
the legal device which determines how the estate should be divided up - after
Lord Grantham's heirs perish on the Titanic.

But Ms Eaton said: 'We thought
there might be too many references to the entail and they have been cut. It is
not a concept people in the US are very familiar with.'

However, that did not seem to faze British
viewers, who would have been similarly unaware of the term before watching the
series.

PBS also believes its audiences will need an
American to outline the key themes of the show.

So before the first episode, actress Laura Linney will explain the
inheritance principle.

Let me explain: Actress Laura Linney will help U.S. viewers by explaining the inheritance principle - central to the plot - before the first show

She will also inform viewers that the idea of a
wealthy American heiress such as the fictional Cora Countess of Grantham coming
to the rescue of a hard-up aristocratic British family is rooted in fact.

On ITV, the series, which starred Dame Maggie
Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern, ran with advertisements, while
PBS - the Public Broadcasting Service - is free of commercials.

Nonethe­less,
Ms Eaton admitted cuts had been made to fit Downton Abbey into four 90-minute
episodes.

'American audiences are used to a different
speed when it comes to television drama and you need to get into a story very
quickly,' she said.

'We also wanted to get to the point where Matthew Crawley [the family's middle-class cousin and unlikely
heir] arrives on the scene much faster than in the British version. He is a pivotal character and his arrival brings with it drama and
conflict.

'In the British version he doesn't arrive until
episode two. In our version he is there in episode one.'

Ms Eaton insisted that any changes were minor
and did not affect the quality of the programme. It will, however, be released
in its entirety in the States on DVD, billed as the British original.

That may not be enough to please some viewers,
who have taken to the internet to register their displeasure. One wrote: 'Americans are getting the short end of the stick and
PBS doesn't seem to care.'

Another said: 'It is not complete... I
fear for the reputation of this [version] over in the States.'

Julian Fellowes, the show's Oscar-winning
writer, refused to be drawn into the debate. 'This is not one for me,' he said
last night.

He also declined to speculate about the show's likely reception in America, saying: 'I have been in this
business long enough to know you should never try to predict the fate of anything.

'I do know Americans are very responsive to new drama and they have a powerful
television drama tradition.'

The image of formal, refined English life has
already won some fans in the States, with one website describing it as
'transcendent television, extraordinary and intoxicating'.

Need for speed: PBS presents Downton... but just a bit faster

No, my dear old popcorn guzzlers, the butler's
pantry isn't where he keeps his trousers

A guide for American viewers, by Julian
Jolley-Goodfellowes*

Good evening. I am Julian Jolley-Goodfellowes. I
am here to guide you American viewers, smilingly and patronisingly, through the
intricacies of aristocratic life portrayed in Downton Abbey, for any popcorn
guzzlers who think the butler's pantry is where he keeps his trousers.

Each day in a stately home began not merely
with servants grate-cleaning, stove-blacking and bed-making - but also,
crucially, with SCOLDING. 'Hurry up with that fire, girl, before one of the
ladyships sees you!' 'I thought I told you to take that kedgeree upstairs?'
'How dare you sit upon Lady Edith's counterpane!' A head housemaid such as Mrs
Hughes would have been hired solely on the basis of her scolding technique.

It was traditional for the eldest daughter to
exclaim daily: 'He's the most hideous bore, he's about 100, and you want me to
marry him, and I simply shan't!' When male dinner guests were not middle-aged
bores, they were improbably good-looking Turkish emissaries who tended to die most indelicately in the eldest daughter's bedchamber. This would result in the
daughter's wail: 'I shall be ruined, Mama!'

It was important cooks be old and permanently on the edge of hysteria - especially when presented with
fancy new pudding recipes.

The role of a Dowager Countess is to
disapprove of everything, expressing her views with disbelief and bulging eyes,
eg: 'Manchester?' 'What, pray, is a "weekend"?' 'A job?'

It was customary every few days for a young
aristocrat or blundering middle-class gentleman to inadvertently mock a
servant. 'I say, William, all that polishing and serving drinks, what a
perfectly ludicrous job.' At this, it is traditional for the servant to flinch,
look downwards, eyes sorrowful, and mumble: 'Yes, sir...
though it has made my family very proud.' The closing stages of this ritual
should then involve the gentleman making a stammering response. 'I say, I, er, I'm most awfully sorry, I didn't mean to...'

All the very smartest stately homes employed
at least one sinister young footman, with a penchant for blackmail and theft.
Indeed, this is how the job was advertised at the time: 'Position Vacant:
Malevolent footman. Must have ideas above station. Would suit "troubled soul".'

The primary function of back stairs were not
the transport of meals, but as a forum for malicious gossip and plotting.

It was customary for butlers to have a shaming
element from their past suddenly reappear and shatter their dignity. 'Ere,
Carson, remember me? Your old music hall partner? From 1904? It's me! Brucie
Forsyth!' Following this revelation, the butler is expected to tender his
resignation to his master. The aristocrat would be expected to feign shock, but
to twitch his lips signifying secret, heart-warming amusement, thus confirming
that the aristocracy are all simply marvellous.

Aristocrats often had an uncanny sense of
precognition. 'Oh look, Dowager Countess, let's do try to be friends. After
all, it's 1912 and there could be a First World War in two years' time.'

Villagers would not have dreamed of saying a
word, even to each other, without being spoken to by His Lordship first. And
even then, their responses would have been limited to a terse 'Thank you, my
Lord' and a sob of 'Oh, Your Ladyship, thank you!'

It was traditional for young female
aristocrats to reveal private details while sitting at a mirror, as their maids stood behind, rearranging their hair. Particularly
prized were maids who could master the phrase: 'It's not my place to say, your Ladyship.'

The phrase from a butler that would have
filled an aristocrat with the most dread was: 'May I speak freely, sir?'

Occasionally, aristocrats would use joltingly
anachronistic terms, such as Cora calling her daughter 'damaged goods', going
on to add: 'She's a total mare, do you get me? Do you? Do you, though?' Nor was
it unusual for some homes in a village such as Downton in 1912 to have uPVC
window frames.

* As told to Sinclair McKay

In response to the above article:

'You were wrong last Sunday to say Masterpiece on PBS isdownsizing Downton Abbey by two hours because of the allegedly shortattention span of Americans. As with virtually all our co-productions,Downton Abbey was edited for our commercial-free time slot. Approximately35 minutes came out of more than seven hours and the cuts were made in theUK by the original producers. None of the characters, themes, or plotlines(including about the "entail" inheritance law) was eliminated. We havehundreds of talented colleagues in the UK whose work we showcase in the U.S. Any impression that we violate their work would be disrespectful and just plainwrong.'